Lid orienting assembly

Claim 2

An assembly for orienting lid-like articles which have a top portion and a peripheral skirt defining a hollow therewithin, comprising: a conveyor for moving different sets of said articles in a single file toward a first station, said different sets of articles being oriented in skirt-up and skirt-down positions respectively; means at said first station for shifting at least one set of said articles toward a second station; and means at said second station for directing a stream of air against said articles of said one set and thereby flipping said articles of said one set to effect orientation of said different sets of articles in the same position for movement to a point of delivery.

Claim 3

An assembly as set forth in claim 1, said conveyor having a lateral width greater than the major dimension of said articles.

Claim 4

An assembly as set forth in claim 2, said first and second stations being laterally spaced apart, said means at the first station and the conveyor, cooperating to shift articles of at least said one set laterally toward said second station.

Claim 5

An assembly as set forth in claim 3, wherein said means at said first station shifts all said articles of said different sets toward said second station, said means at said second station being operable to flip only the skirt-down articles to a skirt-up position to effect orientation of all said articles in a skirt-up position.

Claim 6

An assembly as set forth in claim 4, the means at said second station directing a stream of air upwardly into the hollow of the skirt-down article when the latter is moved into overlying relationship thereto at the second station, whereby to flip said skirt-down article.

Claim 7

An assembly as set forth in claim 5, said means at the first station including an upstanding wall adjacent said conveyor for guiding said skirt-up and skirt-down articles into a position with at least portions thereof overlying the air directing means at the second station.

Claim 8

An assembly as set forth in claim 6, there being a guide adjacent said conveyor at said second station for cooperating with the upstanding wall in guiding said skirt-up and skirt-down articles into a position with predetermined portions thereof overlying the air directing means, whereby to flip only said skirt-down articles.

Claim 9

An assembly for orienting lid-like articles which have a top portion and a peripheral skirt defining a hollow therewithin, comprising: a conveyor for moving different sets of said articles in a single file toward a first station, said different sets of articles being oriented in skirt-up and skirt-down positions respectively, said conveyor having a lateral width greater than the major dimension of said articles; means at said first station for shifting said articles toward a second station; means at said second station for flipping articles of one of said sets to effect orientation of said different sets of articles in the same position for movement to a point of delivery, said means at the second station including a nozzle capable of directing a stream of air against said articles, said first and second stations being laterally spaced apart, said means at the first station and the conveyor cooperating to shift said articles toward said second station, said means at said second station being operable to flip only the skirt-down articles to a skirt-up position, the nozzle at said second station directing a stream of air upwardly into the hollow of the skirt-down article when the latter is moved into overlying relationship to said nozzle at said second station, the means at the first station including an upstanding wall adjacent said conveyor for guiding said skirt-up and skirt-down articles into a position with at least portions thereof overlying the nozzle at said second station; a guide adjacent said conveyor at said second station for cooperating w1th the upstanding wall in guiding said skirt-up and skirt-down articles into position with prEdetermined portions thereof overlying the nozzle; and a generally horizontal shelf adjacent said conveyor at said second station, the upper surface of such shelf being substantially co-planar with the upper surface of the conveyor belt.

Claim 10

An assembly for orienting lid-like articles which have a top portion and a peripheral skirt defining a hollow therewithin, comprising: a conveyor for moving different sets of said articles in a single file toward a first station, said different sets of articles being oriented in skirt-up and skirt-down positions respectively, said conveyor having a lateral width greater than the major dimension of said articles; means at said first station for shifting said articles toward a second station; means at said second station for flipping articles of one of said sets to effect orientation of said different sets of articles in the same position for movement to a point of delivery, said means at the second station including a nozzle capable of directing a stream of air against said articles, said first and second stations being laterally spaced apart, said means at the first station and the conveyor cooperating to shift said articles toward said second station, said means at said second station being operable to flip only the skirt-down articles to a skirt-up position, the nozzle at said second station directing a stream of air upwardly into the hollow of the skirt-down article when the latter is moved into overlying relationship to said nozzle at said second station, the means at the first station including an upstanding wall adjacent said conveyor for guiding said skirt-up and skirt-down articles into a position with at least portions thereof overlying the nozzle at said second station; a guide adjacent said conveyor at said second station for cooperating w1th the upstanding wall in guiding said skirt-up and skirt-down articles into position with prEdetermined portions thereof overlying the nozzle; and a generally horizontal shelf adjacent said conveyor at said second station, the upper surface of such shelf being substantially co-planar with the upper surface of the conveyor belt.

Claim 11

An assembly as set forth in claim 8, the nozzle at the second station being positioned below the upper surface of the shelf, the shelf supporting the articles in overlying relationship to said nozzle, there being an opening through said shelf whereby the stream of air from said nozzle may be directed upwardly through said opening and into the hollow of the skirt-down articles to thereby flip the skirt-down articles.